Comments by passagerider

Desal Water policy needs to be part of a strategic approach to the problem.- continue to improve user efficiency (I suspect this is close to maxed out though)- reduce water main leakages (typically 10-15% in many cities)- improve sewage treatment system- reopen the desal plant for both SB and Montecito use- reduce storm water runoff with rain barrels or permanable parking (like creating a huge cistern or network of storm pipes under the Earl Warren parking to catch the torrent of runoff from the Samarkand area

In the good years, operate the desal plant at 10-20% and recharge the SB and Montecito acquifers for the bad years

---------As for to nativegeo's comment about open borders, I would suggest that rampart mating in the U.S. Is the bigger cause of population growth than open borders....

Many, many years ago, the SB Police would host bicycle safety rodeos and stamp your bikes with an identification number and issue a license. This training helped you learn to ride all over SB safely. I remember this annual event at Adams when I was kid. Now it's called community relations. This was a great chance for the police to work with kids and for kids to see the police.

As for mountain biking, my generation was the first to replace banana seats on Schwinn string rays and practice power slides on the slick concrete hallways at Adams. Also riding through the piles of manure at Earl Warren.

Kids need to learn to play away from the Xbox. So whats wrong with teaching hands on maintenance? That is how doctors and engineers are made!

For Montecito, I would suggest a few overlapping approaches- improving the wastewater plant to increase recycling. Pump any surplus into the acquifier. - Have Montecito fund a pipeline from SB's desalination plant to Montecito with a contract for some minimum of xxxx gallons per month. The quantify would be based on the minimum needed to operate part of the system. (This might be funded be a property tax.) Surplus water can be pumped into the acquirer and/or Jameson. If there is a remaining surplus (which I doubt), pump that into the SB aquifer

As an engineer, I would suggest focusing on a 10-20 year view that would rank all options/approaches. A blend of approaches/techniques is the lowest risk approaches,

Saying all that, a typical problem in many cities is that leaky city water pipes lose 5-10% so a good strategic plan would proactively upgrade antique pipes before they fail.

In SB, or anywhere in California, I am surprised that cities haven't given gravel companies free access to the dried up lakes for the past 3 years.

Another approach is to educate homeowners on how to create dry wells in their yards to direct their roof gutter water into instead of the street. This is one way to recharge the aquifer. Another way is to inject creek water into the ground during storms. or cleaned reclaimed water into the aquifer year round.

Wouldn't adding batteries increase the time that systems could be "off the grid" ( car alternator)

Is it possible for the high tech geeks in Goleta to design and manufacture a thin film solar panel appliqué for the roof of a police car to extend the charge of batteries in the day light?

How about reducing the brightness of the blue lights at night? As a motorist, I can barely see the road when passing a parked police car. I would think that would increase the risk to a cop.

Oh by the way, the Marines are leading the military in using alternative energy to support daily combat operations. They are using solar to eliminate batteries in their packs which reduce the weight. (Which reduces their calorie and water requirements which further lightening their packs....). This approach also reduces the fuel requirements at forward fire bases (gas costs ~$400 per gallon if you track ALL the costs. (In Iraq, at CENTCOM we also tracked causalities per 1 million gallons delivered..... That started to wake people up....)

Many sites across the US were used for bombing or artillery ranges long before anyone even thought about environmental issues or other long term consequences. We must recognize that point and just move forward.

If any range has enough unexplored ordnance to worry about, it is logical now to go in and clean it up. The cleanup effort also serves as training for military and civilian bomb disposal teams.